Cleaning Up
by Higuchimon
Summary: Someone has to clean up after a duel. When Jim fell, he left his duel disk and his backpack. So who took care of them?


**Title:** Cleaning Up  
 **Characters:** Skull Bishop, Jim|| **Pair:** N/A  
 **Words:** 1,000/1,000|| **Chapters:** 1/1  
 **Genre:** Drama|| **Rated:** G  
 **Timeline:** This takes place after Jim vs. Haou.  
 **Challenges:** Diversity Writing, GX canon, B60, paragraph with at least 4 fullstops; Include THe Word Boot Camp, #16, wonder  
 **Summary:** Someone has to clean up after a duel. When Jim fell, he left his duel disk and his backpack. So who took care of them?

* * *

It was his turn to clean up after the duel, though he knew there wasn't much for him to clean up at all. There never was in small scale battles like this.

 _The fool did try._ Skull Bishop headed over to where the last remains of that foolish human rested. The terror-filled cries of his companion could still be heard as he fled away. Skull Bishop wondered if he could persuade Haou-sama into letting him go after the coward.

 _He said that he didn't need warriors who aren't willing to fight, and this one is quite the coward._ At least the one with the crocodile gathered up enough courage in the end. Skull Bishop didn't believe that they'd see the other one again.

He had other duties to deal with regardless. He scooped up the defeated fighter's Duel Disk and examined it.

He'd never seen one like this before. Very few Duel Disks he knew of had been modified, especially not those of common soldiers. Had that fool believed himself special?

Skull Bishop took the deck out and fanned it before him. Part of serving Haou-sama involved checking the decks of the defeated for certain cards. Haou-sama had been quite clear: any deck that carried Gem Beast cards needed to be brought to him at once, along with anyone who might possess any relevant information.

But this one didn't have anything of that sort. An earth based deck, with cards that seemed unique to the duelist. Skull Bishop sorted through them curiously. He'd not seen some of them anywhere before.

 _He seemed to be under the impression that he knew Haou-sama._

Skull Bishop knew quite well that _Yuuki Juudai_ was Haou-sama's true name. He'd never hidden it; he simply chose not to use it. To put the past behind him so he could move forward to the glorious future of ruling the world.

But these two warriors – one warrior and a coward – at least seemed to believe that Haou-sama was their friend.

 _He might have been, once. But he is our king now._

The rule was to throw a useless deck and duel disk into the lava. To do otherwise meant a use was imagined for the cards. He tucked the deck back into the duel disk and turned to the other item that rested on the bridge: a backpack.

That one he picked up and pawed through thoroughly. There wasn't much in it: a few sealed items of food that he tossed into the lava – it wouldn't be needed at all. A few odds and ends of clothing. Those would be kept and recycled for future use. A few other bits and pieces that he kept. Those could be researched and examined to see if they were worth keeping or if they should also be disposed of.

There seemed to be little else there. The earth duelist had traveled light, or he'd used up all of his supplies before coming to stand against Haou.

 _If they were friends and came from a world where dueling is but a game… why did they come here at all?_

Skull Bishop had heard about Haou-sama's duel against Brron. He'd not been part of Brron's forces, joining Haou-sama some time after he'd gathered his army. But rumors that he heard whispered of a child who searched for a lost friend and who unleashed the darkest of hells upon Brron once he learned that the one he searched for had perished.

 _Perhaps I should ask Haou-sama._ He considered that for a few moments for he snorted and started back inside the castle. He knew better than that. Haou-sama didn't like to speak of his past.

After that little encounter with Gold and Silver, Skull Bishop didn't think that Haou-sama would even want to speak of what had come before. They had been quite massive fools, daring to mock his goals.

 _They may have been loyal servants to Brron, but they mean nothing to Haou-sama._ They'd mentioned something about having brought captured folk to Brron and those words alone enraged Haou-sama to the point he hadn't even bothered to duel them. With his own hands he'd rendered them down to raw dust.

Whether they became part of Super Fusion or not, Skull Bishop truly didn't know. Haou-sama hadn't ever spoken of it. The dust blew on the wind and Skull Bishop had never seen able to see souls.

He took the Duel Disk and backpack to his own quarters, tossing them into a small storage closet. If Haou-sama ever wanted something to remember his fallen former comrade, then Skull Bishop could provide. And should he not, then there were plenty of bazaars and markets which provided places to sell and trade cards.

It would not at all be the first time that he'd traded a defeated duelist's deck for cards he could use or other items he'd wanted. He had a small stash of precious gems that he'd traded for. There were those who wanted nothing to do with cards but would do everything within their power for gems or gold.

 _I wonder if I should track down that coward and see if there's anything in his deck that could be useful to me._ Such a thought brought a smile to his lips. He might not have time to do this just yet – the great festival of the darkest time of the year would be soon – but once that passed, then matters would be different.

The dark time festival would also be a good time to gently bring up the concept of giving this deck over to Haou-sama. Gifts were an important part of the festival and he could question his liege cautiously on what might be a suitable gift.

Should it not be, then he would have time to find another. He could make an early trip to one of his favored trading villages and see what he could acquire there.

What _did_ one get for the conqueror who needed nothing but greater bloodshed?

* * *

 **The End**

 **Notes:** My original idea for this was to have Jim's duel disk and backpack get tossed into the lava. Probably what happened anyway, really. Also, if you want to see this as a prelude to **Haou's Holiday** , I don't object.


End file.
